Umno sees itself as god

Najib Tun Razak is a leader of the government that sees the rakyat as digits to be manipulated and shaped at will.

COMMENT

What kind of a prime minister can describe his people as accursed bastards (haramjadah) and allowed the police to fire tear gas and water cannon on his own people?

But that is Najib (Tun Razak) for you and it explains why he goes around saying, “lu tolong gua, gua tolong lu” and, “give me your nambikei”.

This is the fundamental flaw which Najib commits every time he relates to people.

He is pictured as larger than life figure, the office of the prime minister is in the background towering over the mass of people depicted as the rakyat, who harbour dreams and hope of happiness.

The rakyat, the people, my fellow citizens, my fellow Malays, are always depicted as smallish entities and numberless digits.

Najib is a leader of the government that sees the rakyat as digits to be manipulated and shaped at will.

He might as well say: “My fellow slaves, ask not we your masters can do for you, but ask what you can do to enrich and make us more powerful.”

Najib’s government is that collection of individuals who exercise the rule of the government over its constituents.

Who is that collection of individuals? They are Umno’s elite and the powerful.

Najib preys on the susceptibility and gullibility of the rakyat.

The rulers claim a compassionate kindred with the common workers (aka slaves) and simultaneously enjoy the fruits of the labours of these menial serfs, also known as “my fellow citizens, rakyat, people”.

‘Najib does not understand’

So Najib goes around claiming, it’s people first, achievement this and that. But the large posters along the Seremban highway tell you a different thing.

The posters have Najib exhorting the people with his usual sloganeering: ‘Sejuta Impian, Seribu Keriangan”, literally translated to “a million dreams, a thousand happiness”.

For slogans Najib got an A++ from former economic adviser Daim Zainuddin.

But where do these dreams and happiness come from? All you need to do is look at the posters closely.

The posters tell of the basic building block on how Umno sees itself. Umno sees itself as the omnipotent being from where all providence spring from.

Hence Umno vis-à-vis the government wants to be deified to whom the people, the rakyat, owe complete loyalty and allegiance.

It therefore doesn’t understand why people, most notably Malays, find Umno revolting.

This is what Najib doesn’t understand.

People no longer accept ascriptive stature without demanding more than just your name and position.

Beyond your name and position, people want to know what can be achieved.

The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman but joined DAP earlier this year. He is a FMT columnist